LA Kings vs St. Louis Blues Open Forum

In my dark curmudgeonry hole of work I have dwelled, seeing nary a goal of the Kings’ 5 game winning streak. I made it for the last two periods of last week’s bitch slapping of Detroit, but otherwise my routine has been to forget to record the game, to frantically call the woman at 11:00am (the one time I’m glad she works later in the day), to get home at 11:00pm, then to fast forward through the game and watch the goals before passing out in glum anticipation of the next long, hockeyless surly day.

And so today I bounce in my seat. I wait excited. Wait to finally see some of this kick ass Kings team I’ve heard so much about. Wait to outwork, outmuscle and outscore the St. Louis Blues.

… I don’t think it would be right to say it would be Jacob’s fault that they lose tonight, although I wouldn’t mind doing that. Heh

But – I DO see the Kings getting frustrated tonight, and struggling. I don’t know if that means a loss; more than likely it’ll mean a 1-1 game going into overtime, probably ending in a coin flip. The Blues were guilty of looking past the Ducks, and they paid for it. I definitely think they’ll be back on task tonight, and the Kings won’t find the going nearly as easy as they have over the past several games. My expectations aren’t high for this one.

This is all good for the Kings, as they don’t need to be worried about some dumb Blue record that is now history anyway…

Three Goal Statistic Officially Ends for the Blues

It has been a talking point all season long. When the Blues have scored three or more goals it has almost been a certainty that the team would win. Prior to March 13th, the Blues were undefeated when they had scored at least three times until they fell in an OT loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Last night the Blues fell to Anaheim 4-3 giving the team their first regulation loss of the season where they have scored at least three times. The Blues are now 37-1-1 when scoring three or more times.
Over the past several weeks and months we have seen the “Three Goal Statistic” beaten to death. As soon as the Blues scored their third goal Twitter would fill up with countless Tweets reporting the statistic. It’s been a fun, though overused, talking point. Unfortunately, it seems some fans misinterpreted the statistic a bit by focusing purely on the offensive side of the stat while the true power of the stat comes from the team’s defensive ability.

It’s clear that this team’s strength is its goaltending and defense. Prior to any action on Thursday night, the Blues rank 19th in the NHL in scoring with 2.54 goals per game. Defensively, the Blues rank first with a tiny 1.88 goals allowed per game.

Going back to the Three Goals statistic, it speaks to just how effective the Blues have been in shutting down the opposition. The statistic has less to do with the team’s offense reaching the crucial third goal and more to do with the defensive unit keeping opponents to two goals or less on a regular basis. The Blues have regularly won when scoring three goals because in those games the team’s defense has been on its game, keeping the opponent to one or two.

The old saying is that defense wins championships. It’s hard to argue against this point when you see just how well the Blues have done all season long despite some patchy work from their offensive unit prior to Andy McDonald and David Perron’s return.

Our Blues certainly got a rude awakening last night. Uncharacteristically, they gave up the lead three times, when before they had been very reliable with a lead. But, this is what the boys need to learn to expect; the road isn’t going to get easier to travel at the end of the season. Rather, it’s going to get harder and harder. If last night’s scenario wasn’t proof enough, tonight’s should drive the point home. Where Anaheim is already out of the playoff picture, the Kings are right in the thick of things. Currently, the Kings are in the 8th spot, but are only one point behind the division-leading Stars. If the Kings win tonight, they vault from the playoff bubble to home-ice advantage as a 3rd seed. The importance of these points mean that every team the Blues face from here on out will be motivated to the max. They will be gunning for the Blues, and be at their most dangerous. The Blues will need to match that intensity for the full 60 minutes.

Everybody Get Dangerous / Weezer

The Enemy: The LA Kings were the preseason pick for a lot of experts to be the team to challenge for the Cup out of the West. Instead of living up to that, they stumbled out of the gate, and had a coaching change in December. Side note, how ironic that it’s the Midwest setting the trend for the West Coast to copy later (Ducks, Kings). Now, though, since the coaching change and the trade deadline (picking up Jeff Carter in exchange for Jack Johnson) they’ve turned things around. The Kings have been one of the best teams in the league since the trade deadline reunited Carter with Mike Richards (LEADERSHIP!). The Kings are on a 5-game winning streak and have gone 8-2-0 in their last 10 games.

Their offense is really clicking right now. Tops in both goals and points overall is Anze Kopitar (24G /41A), and he is followed by Justin Williams (18G /34A) and Dustin Brown (19G /28A). In the 12 games since joining the team, Carter has 9 points. Not only is the O a threat, but the goaltending can carry the load as well. Starter Jonathan Quick has had a terrific season with a 2.00 GAA and .930 SV%. and can steal a game at any time. He’s backed up by Jonathan Bernier (2.33 GAA and .910 SV%), who is very capable. I’d expect to see Quick in goal tonight.

This penis swarming. Sometimes it seems like tthey have an extra man on the ice. They’re coming out early Kicking so much ass they don’t even have time to take names. That’s what I wanna see you tonight. I wanna see a Blue stapled (no pun intend) to every board all over the ice. We know what Brownie can do, and you all saw Richards make mulch out of Duncan Kieth for that Dwight King? goal. This team will put the smash down, unless their smasher’s broken. And I think it works fine. Tonight is statement night to the league. I’d say media but they will be asleep at that time anyway, hence Kopi ” Not an elite forward”. But the playsrs know.

Not penis, god damn this phone. This team. TEAM is swarming. I already promised not to use voice dictation. So I have nk defense. Just like STL. tonite. Iwas bad and used voice dictation again. I need to be disciplined…

Willie Mitchell #33 and Simon Gagne #12 both of the Los Angeles Kings celebrate Mitchell’s game-winning goal against the St. Louis Blues at the Scottrade Center on November 22, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Kings beat the blues 3-2.

This game reminds me of the times when I would set the computer to ‘superstar’ on EAs NHL games and while I would have the puck the entire game and rack up the shots, I just couldn’t fucking score. The computer would take like 8 shots in the game and win 1-0.

.. Please don’t do this. Murray is gone; no sense pissing on his grave.

If Lombardi had given Murray a balanced roster to go into the season with, like the one they have now, Murray would have had more success. Sutter is just the beneficiary of a better team; before the trade deadline and the subsequent increase in forward depth, Sutter was having less success than Murray was.

Thats what really impressed me. .. the obvious turn around made in the locker room between periods. They figured out what changes needed to be made and executed. Another goalie and we would have chased him out of the net, but even facing the frustration of picking up the offense and still hitting a brick wall of a goaltender didnt knock us off our mental game.